Services

Gateway Transit System

Utilizing the Gateway Transit System, we provide medical and general transportation to seniors throughout Wayne County. This service is essential to seniors who otherwise would not be able to see their doctors, receive dialysis, and do grocery shopping or come to the Senior Center.

Group Respite

Group Respite is another program offered at the Senior Center. The Group Respite program is designed to give a break in care giving to those people who watch over someone with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia.

On Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays they drop off their loved one at the Senior Center and specially trained staff supervises them in a separate part of the center. When appropriate, the Group Respite participants join in on activities at the center. Their day is structured for failure free activities that stimulate their mind and allow them to socialize. We are limited to 10 participants a day and at times have a waiting list.

Information & Options Counselor

We have a full-time Information and Options Counselor who provides information and referrals to anyone who calls. We receive over 100 calls a month from people needing anything from fuel assistance to home repairs to long distance caregivers in crisis. Information and Options Counseling is a service designed to link persons with resources available to meet their needs and/or interests.

Health Promotion

Health Promotion is an important program at Services on Aging. Blood Pressure checks, Glucose Screenings and Hearing Screenings are regularly held at the Senior Center. We offer assistance with diabetic shoes, run health fairs in the community and offer programs to the senior community.

Home Care

Services on Aging also provides in home care for people with Alzheimer’s and other dementia through the Family Caregiver Support Program. Once again caregivers are assisted in caring for their loved one but in this case the care is given in the home. Our FCSP program also has a waiting list. In addition, we have a staff member who also helps facilitate a monthly Alzheimer’s Support Group.

In Home Aide

Services on Aging also offers an In Home Aide Program. The goal of this program is to provide services for home bound elders and allow them to avoid institutionalization. We offer three levels of service. Level I clients receive help with household tasks such as vacuuming, changing bed linens and other cores that arthritis or other conditions prevent them from doing.

Level II and Level III clients receive personal care due to an inability to perform activities of daily living such as bathing themselves, dressing themselves, walking, feeding themselves or transferring in and out of a chair. We hire certified nursing assistants to go out to these seniors’ houses and help them bathe, dress, ambulate, eat and transfer. This vital service helps about 85 seniors throughout Wayne County and there are just as many on the waiting list.

Senior Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP)

North Carolina has a Senior Health Insurance Information Program designed to help seniors navigate their way through the maze of programs offered for health insurance. Lisa Barker, our Information and Options Counselor for Wayne County Coordinates our SHIIP Volunteers.

Community Outreach

We go out in the community and talk to groups about Medicare and all its options. We send informational items to local newspapers, radio and television. Most importantly, we coordinate volunteers who provide individual counseling to people who don’t know what plan to sign up for or who signed up for the wrong plan. The demand for this service is growing and more volunteer are always needed.